Ordinarily, a printing die of a printing press is clamped against and fixed to the outer periphery of a printing cylinder by engaging one end thereof in an engaging groove formed in the outer periphery of the printing cylinder, then fixing the other end to a take-up shaft rotatably received in a groove formed in the outer periphery of the printing cylinder, and taking up the end of the printing die to the take-up shaft by rotating the take-up shaft. The take-up shaft is rotated manually while preventing reverse rotation of the take-up shaft with a ratchet mechanism. It is troublesome to rotate it manually.
In order to eliminate such manual labor, a printing die clamp is proposed which includes a pinion mounted to one end of the take-up shaft, a gear wheel rotatably mounted to a printing cylinder shaft and meshing with the pinion, and a brake mechanism for braking the rotation of the gear wheel (Patent document 1). With this device, by rotating the printing cylinder with the gear wheel braked, the pinion rotates about the axis of the gear wheel and its own axis, so that the take-up shaft rotates.
But with this printing die clamp, in order to rotate the take-up shaft, it is necessary to rotate the printing cylinder. Thus, there is the possibility that an operator may be caught by the printing cylinder, thus causing problems concerning safety.
Patent document 1: Registered JP utility model publication 2545184